“Mel—”
“And remember,” she said, tossing her keys in an arc I barely caught, “no sex in the rink unless you disinfect afterward. These wheels see a lot of sin.”
“Mel!” I choked out.
But she was already halfway out the door, shouting, “BYE FRIENDS, HAVE FUN FINDING LOVE!” like she was narrating her own matchmaking reality show.
The door shut.
Silence fell over the rink.
Just me, Eleanor . . . and a plate of chili cheese fries steaming in the pink glow of the disco ball.
I let out a long breath, shaking my head.
“She does that on purpose,” I muttered.
Eleanor laughed softly. “Is she always like this?”
“Pretty much.” I sat beside her on the padded wall. “She and Becca . . . they’ve been trying to set me up for years.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I grabbed a fry and shrugged. “They think I’m lonely.”
Her expression softened.
“And . . . are you?” she asked.
I looked down at my hands, turning her question over. I had Leo. I had Mel, Becca, the reapers, and the kids at the Penguin Project. I had a full life.
I wasn’t lonely.
At least, I didn’t think I was.
But then Eleanor lifted a bite of cheese-covered fry to her lips, and I watched her laugh as some stringy cheddar clung to the corner of her mouth.
Without thinking, she swiped it away with her tongue.
And something in my chest . . . shifted. It wasn’t lust or infatuation. Something deeper. Something I hadn’t felt since I was young and foolish and wide open to the world.
She caught me staring, her cheeks flushing the same rosy color as the rink lights.
“What?” she whispered with a small, bashful smile. “Do I . . . have something on my face?”
Words deserted me. All I could manage was . . . “Do you know how beautiful you are?”
She froze.
Then her breath hitched, and her eyes widened, stunned.
Like no one had said that to her in a long time. Or like she didn’t believe she deserved to hear it.
Which made me want to repeat it a thousand different ways until she did.
Her lips parted, trembling just a little, and the expression she wore . . .
It was enough to undo me entirely.
